I bought the Fujifilm X-T2 after ten years of proud Canonism. I was wondering: is it worth switching to mirrorless? What are the differences with a reflex? And what will I do with the lenses, after being “spoiled” by the Canon L Series.
With all due respect to many Nazi photographers, I am convinced that an adequate tool is essential to express one's creativity in a satisfying way. And choosing an adequate reflex is important.
Now, after two years of very intense use, I can say it: I couldn't have made a better choice. The Fuji is a camera that frees and stimulates all your creative potential, making it achievable.
Premise: this is not a technical review, the web is full of them. Mine is the story of an everyday use experience.
The only thing I know is that before I bought the camera, I thought the online reviews were all written by Fujifilm's advertising manager. Instead, I find myself joining the chorus: they were truly sincere voices!
A slow approach
When you first open the camera box everything is beautiful, wonderful, fantastic.
Then the trauma arises.
The first approach was very difficult: the first photographs, the classic random shots of the cat, seemed magnificent. Then, in the advanced exploration of the menus and in the modification of the RAW, I felt like an idiot. I felt like I had forgotten how to take photos.
Fujifilm's approach, much closer to that of analog photography, with its physical time dials and its small, vintage shape. Even today, many people ask me where to put the film!
Then I saw the first jpegs. Crazy.
If you set it to automatic and want vacation photos,. The jpeg files from Fujifilm, whatever it is, are optimized so perfectly that they are perfect right from the moment you take the shot. The Japanese engineers have done a fabulous job, many photos are really frameable without any modification. In fact, if you are less experienced, you really feel like a “pro” from the first shot!
To take special photos, set the setting to “Classic Chrome“. You won’t regret it!
Compared to traditional SLR cameras, Fuji's setting menus are hundreds and all positioned in a complicated way. It takes a little time to get used to them, then navigation will certainly be more intuitive.
At work: not ideal for 18th birthday parties, discos and clubs
But enough chit-chat. I immediately bring it to an eighteenth and throw it into the fray. I'm used to using the Canon like a tank: I throw myself into the fray with the 17-40 and take pictures on the fly between elbows, screams and music. With the Fujifilm I didn't get a single picture right: the autofocus goes haywire when there's no light and, obviously, it doesn't work.
In the next paragraph I will explain the reason: it is the external flash that does not help.
The issue of poor AF in the dark seems to have been mostly solved with the Fujifilm X-T3.
For graduations and less “rushing” events, however, Fuji is unbeatable.
We're not there with the flash.
The sore point, really, is the external flash. I've tried all types, from the super expensive original Fujifilm to the most crappy Yongnuo. Nothing that satisfies me, so much so that I still use the Canon 600EX-RT that I share with my 6D. For now it remains an unsurpassed flash for quality, reliability and duration.
The best Fuji flash, at the moment, is the Godox V860II. It is almost identical to the Canon 600EX and is accurate and effective. I think it is still a step below the Canon in terms of quality of materials and overall reliability. I would not shoot a wedding with the Godox, even though I know people who have.
There is also no laser focus assist: the best flashes on the X-T2 have a giant LED that lights up the whole room to help the camera. If you turn it on in a dark disco, they'll beat you up after the third photo.
The biggest problem, however, remains the manual flash setting “on the fly”. You can’t find a blessed normal setting and you often have to fiddle around to find the right balance of light. Which wouldn’t be a problem if you were taking a posed photograph. In a disco, you can’t do that.
What I don't understand is why no website talks about the fact that, using the flash in manual mode, you also have to manually set the white balance (usually varies from 5600k to 5300k). If you don't do this, all your photos will come out blue because of the incorrect balance. Be careful.
Unforgettable photo sets
Then I understood: this camera was created for thoughtful, careful, considered photography. You can't use it in dark places hoping to catch crazy photos among people. Maybe you can even succeed, but you will never have the same immediacy.
What's more beautiful and thoughtful than a photo shoot?
The internal viewfinder is very precise, but also the large rear LCD allows you to have a perfect view of what you will get. The Raw file, then, has an almost unlimited possibility of retouching. You can recover the shadows and lights with a freedom that amazes you in every Photoshop session. The dynamic range of +- 5 stops allows you to extract details and lights impossible for old-generation sensors.
What has always distinguished Fujifilm cameras, however, is the rendering of skin tones. There is no other camera so effective in perfectly rendering the delicate and sweet colors of the human face.
With natural light, however, it is unbeatable. The camera is lightning fast, it never stops and takes photographs of absolute quality even in jpeg. Obviously, it must be calibrated with the occasion: for the photojournalism, where perfect photographs are needed at the moment, is a godsend.
The best friend of the journey
After the first trauma, the opportunity for redemption arrives. I leave for Sicily to tour the entire island with a car and a camera. I have with me 10-24 f/4 And 35mm f/1.4, nothing else. I also decide to leave the “safety” Canon at home, a bit like Milan when they decided to play Donnarumma and discovered they had a phenomenon.
Until the previous year I was traveling with 10 kilos of gear in my backpack, including an old and bulky 80-200 f/2.8L.
With the X-T2 I discovered a fairy tale: in a tiny shoulder strap I can put the same equipment that, before, I would have carried in a backpack. And even the photographic quality benefits.
Furthermore, being very small, the camera does not attract many glances, making it great for street photography.
Vintage madness!
When you discover that Fuji mounts practically everything with adapters, your head starts to fly among the craziest experiments. And you see Soviet lenses from a hundred years ago mounted on the camera or other amenities.
Everything is beautiful, as long as it stimulates imagination and creativity. There are adapters of all sorts around, both with a lens that corrects the magnification of the APS-C sensor and without a lens. And, if they don't exist, he builds them for you Adriano Lolli. Everything you find can be used on Fuji and, I assure you, many vintage lenses are far better than their modern counterparts.
And don't tell the story "eh, but it's APS-C!“, because it is not a limit. This camera is at the absolute top of its category in terms of image quality and optical equipment. The lenses are designed to be equal to the millimetres on Full Frame. And that is how the 35mm is actually the 50mm on FF, just as the 23mm is designed to replicate the 35mm on Full Frame.
The entire set of original Fujifilm lenses is designed to deliver professional results. In fact, Fuji is the only company that still produces lenses with glass paste produced and selected within its own factories. This means very high quality control.
Note a nice thing: you can recharge it via USB: great for never running out of battery! With a cell phone battery pack you always have battery coverage. Another thing that positively impressed me is, for example, the automatic saving of photos on the PC via Wi-Fi. However, this is a very slow operation, I do not recommend it.
Ultimately?
Now, with a much more accessible cost than in the past, and with its little sister X-T20 that is practically identical and smaller, it is an absolute must-buy. The peculiarity of this camera is in fact its ability to adapt to the user's level of experience: it seems to say "I am as you want me" and lets you slowly discover all its functions.
Don’t try to be “right” about the camera right away. You have to learn to know it with many shots, otherwise it risks turning into a frustrating experience.
The Fujifilm does not give itself away immediately. It is a machine to be approached calmly and patiently, but which, in exchange, teaches you every day to love photography more and more.
